Silver Lake Jubilee - Photos and Review

Holy Mother of God! The first Silver Lake Jubilee was a freakin’ damn blast. I know I was there, I have bruises, my liver hurts; I know I experienced some fun, great shows and a sense of community however, I can barely really remember any of it. So just like someone remembering flashes of memories from a black-out here is my account of the Silver Lake Jubilee in random bits and pieces.

My first taste of music upon arrival was a guerrilla style show directly under the bridge by Killsonic. I heard sounds of fun from a large crowd gathered around a group of accordions, horns, drums and some other stuff so I checked it out. Now this is a noise band! A happy fun noise band kind of like a jazz infusion mixed with a marching band and a dash of Gogol Bordello. I loved the location cause the barrel-vaulted-tunnel made the sound reverberate all around my body like a soundwave massage. I remember one of the accordion players was wearing a Doctor Zoidberg type Mexican wrestling mask and that made me smile. Did anyone else see that mask? I just need to know I didn’t imagine it.

The Black Apples

So I’m drunk by the time I see The Black Apples and I love their sound. No it’s not the beer talking I swear I really did like it a lot. Any music where you can dance the pony I am down with it. If you know me you also know how much I love percussion and this band has two drummers…um, off-and-on. I was told that the singer used to sit behind the kit play and sing but then they added another drummer. So now the singer is able to get up and front the band, but also revisit the kit for a few songs. There’s something fun about watching two drummers it’s like choreographed dancing, and it seems to be a crowd pleaser. My favorite song performed was “Winter is New” as this singer has a beautiful voice that feels like the 50s and 60s, maybe like Roy Orbison only much prettier. I am all for bringing that singing style back and it made me feel happy to hear it. The Black Apples play July 3^rd at the Echo Curio which will make for a packed sweaty dancing time. You know one of those shows at the Curio that when you drive by you wonder why so many people are there and exactly what you’re missing.

The Black Apples

Um… The Entrance Band. Well you can imagine my state by this time and I don’t really remember a lot ( I am a little embarrassed to say). So I guess I’m just going to type out what I have written in my notes, but I must warn you they are fairly random. Notes: Introduction felt like a nuclear war aftermath and into a Woodstock Hendrix like experience. The feedback sounds good, is this the way the song goes or is it a really good accident? Now I’m thinking Mars Volta… that bassist chick is hot. Yeah that’s what I wrote, moving on.

Family of the Year Aaaaahmazing! Damn, these boys and girls sound and look beautiful. As you can tell the sparser my writing about my show experiences get the less coherent I was. Random things I remember about this band: The harmonies felt inspirational like running through a field as a child. That probably doesn’t make sense to you, but it made sense at the time for me. Lots of guitars, everyone on stage is doing something talented and impressive. They closed with “Jamesy” which I’m pretty sure I was really into. I think I had an inappropriate conversation involving the Getty Villa with one of the members. The End.

Big Whup

P.S. I hate beer gardens. I understand why it’s needed I guess, but it always makes people choose between drinking and talking to all their friends corralled in the beer garden or watching the bands. At least these beer gardens were close to the stage but still… it’s division. I don’t like it.

What I did like was the eco-friendly out-of-the-box thinking: like trash sorting and a water fountain attached to a fire hydrant that was some of the best filtered water I’ve had in this town and it was free as it should be. I would like to have seen them write our names on our beer cups and keep using the same ones.

Fancy Words: Roxanne Hilburn

Photos: Matt Draper